Joint Information Systems Committee Great Expectations of ICT Malcolm Batchelor, JISC Joint Information Systems CommitteeSupporting education and research

Joint Information Systems Committee Phase 1: Student Expectations JISC/Ipsos MORI, June 2007; Expectations of ICT at university; year old university hopefuls; Empirical data; Survey of 501 students – quantitative and qualitative; Some key findings and implications.

Joint Information Systems Committee Student Expectations Study Part 1 FindingsImplications Difficulty in discussing expectations Overall uncertainty. Hard to project beyond current experience. Expect ICT to play bigger role but unclear how. Digital natives Immersed in technology. Implicit understanding of technology & its use; socially & in classroom. Core part of social engagement. Ubiquitous internet access is the norm. Do consider ICT provision when applying. Don’t overestimate their understanding of university when explaining how ICT fits in. Perceive ICT improving learning through more access rather than new methods of T&L or interaction. Have a basic level of inherent expectation for ICT provision. Need clear information on how ICT will be used in T&L. Sophisticated at evaluating benefits of new technologies.

Joint Information Systems Committee Student Expectations Study Part 1 FindingsImplications Make widespread use of social networking and Web % regularly use sites, only 5% never. 62% use wikis, blogs or online networks. Few (21%) part of online community (e.g. 2 nd Life). Sceptical to see how social networking could be used as learning tool. Cautious of publishing/sharing coursework online for public scrutiny. Technology is very important socially but not substitution for f2f interaction. Expect unlimited access to and use of university systems/network – bandwith issues? Need clarity about university’s stance in use of such technologies on their systems/networks. Need to know/understand how social networking tools relate to learning if to be used.

Joint Information Systems Committee Student Expectations Study Part 1 FindingsImplications Strongly value f2f interaction in T&L Traditional methods of L&T seen as neither hierarchical nor outmoded. Perceive personal f2f interaction as backbone of their learning. But, don’t fully understand how ICT & learning can work together outside school context. Not constantly looking for new technologies to incorporate into their lives – need palpable benefit. Steer clear of assumption that new technology is automatically youth friendly. Need more information about how it can help in daily lives. Know when technology is being used for its own sake Adept at evaluating different ICT options when presented. Use it as means of doing other things, not as replacement or as end in itself. Flexible & ready to accommodate new technologies if they can see benefits. Don’t expect technology to encroach on what they see as key benefits from university – interaction & learning. Need clarity on how and why new techniques & technologies can be used to compliment T&L. Opinions may change once experience university?

Joint Information Systems Committee Phase 2: Student Experiences Aims: –Understand experiences of using ICT in social, learning and teaching environments at university; –whether prior expectations have been met – mismatch? Cohort ‘tech literate’ 112 Survey of 999 first year students ‘mainstream’ Quantitative (Online survey) Qualitative (4 online discussion groups) Depth, insight, understanding

Joint Information Systems Committee Expectation vs Experience ExpectationMet? 1.General uncertainty, especially ICT 2.Bigger role for ICT but need clarity 3.Ability to use their own equipment 4.Ubiquitous internet access 5.Plenty of ICT support 6.Online materials provided 7.Need to be shown value & relevance of technology 1.Becoming clearer 2.In most part 3.Yes, but DE Group… 4.Yes 5.Largely met but… 6.Yes 7.Partly

Joint Information Systems Committee Getting to grips with new technology BEFORE: Students are flexible and ready to accommodate new forms of technology in learning Source: Ipsos MORI

Joint Information Systems Committee Using Web 2.0 in learning BEFORE: Wide use of social networking but struggle to see how it could be used in learning Still high (91%) but frequency has increased; 73% use Social Network Sites to discuss coursework; 27% on at least a weekly basis; –75% think such sites benefit their learning; –Most effective when student driven; lecturer-led ones overly formal; 54% regularly or sometimes use wikis, blogs or online networks, but only 28% maintaining their own; –are wikis fully understood?

Joint Information Systems Committee Using Web 2.0 in teaching % Strongly agree% Tend to agree% Tend to disagree% Strongly disagree I think it is a good idea for tutors/lecturers to use social networking sites for teaching All boost students Post-1992 Russell Group All cohort students Base: All boost students (999), All cohort students (112), Post-1992 universities (501), Russell Group universities (195) Source: Ipsos MORI

Joint Information Systems Committee Training & Guidance Deliver training that highlights the way students think about information, rather than the way they use technology itself; –Does HEI have a remit to encourage students to think differently about information, research and presentation? Some technologies will be harder to introduce into teaching than others (eg wikis, social networking sites (sns) ); –Requires different approaches from teachers/ course designers with institutional support for staff; –Be aware students already use sns & help them use existing networks. (NB c. 10% of students currently do not use them at all). –How widespread is Web 2.0 in teaching? Help students understand best practice for checking validity of internet sources, 69% of students believe they do; –Can we measure competency?

Joint Information Systems Committee Useful resources from : Great Expectations of ICT; how Higher Education Institutions are measuring up: /publications/publications/publications/greatexpectations Learner Experiences of e-Learning Phase 2: /elp_learnerexperience Student Expectations 2007: /publications/publications/studentexpectations Google Generation: /news/stories/2008/01/googlegen Learner Experiences of e-Learning Phase 1: /intheirownwords

Joint Information Systems Committee Great Expectations of ICT Malcolm Batchelor, JISC Joint Information Systems CommitteeSupporting education and research